Welcome Back To Halloween Town
by teamchaotixheroes
Summary: Just as the title suggest, welcome back to the holiday world known as Halloween Town. Get ready to come along with Sora as he travels through the spooky trials that await him.
1. The Nightmare Begins

A Kingdom Hearts story about 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' world Halloween Town!  
>Enjoy!<p>

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><p><strong>Welcome Back To Halloween Town<br>_The Nightmare Begins_**

The midnight sky blankets the surrounding world. With tiny specks of stars twinkling about up above, while the biggest source of light is emanating from the bright full moon shining down upon the town below.

Our heroes find themselves in the holiday world known as Halloween Town. Sora, Donald, and Goofy walk up towards the Guillotine Gate. They stop right in front of the gate and begin waiting.

The rusty, old gate slowly begins creaking around, trying to move. The trio watches as the gate slowly begins rising up by itself, as it has done every time before. After the gate has risen up as far as it can go, the heroes enter into Guillotine Square. While in the square, no one can be seen, no one can be heard, almost like the place has become a ghost town… well more so than usual.

Sora slowly begins looking around, wondering where exactly everyone is. Most of the time someone is usually there to greet them. The Keyblade wielder looks towards his companions and asks, "Where is everyone?"

Donald and Goofy exchange glances and begin pondering the same question. Donald Duck is the first to come up with something. He quickly looks towards Sora and says, "Maybe there in the Graveyards or at Dr. Finkelstein's lab." Donald soon looks back towards Goofy and sees him pacing while still pondering.

Goofy walks back and forth, forward and backwards, but soon come to stop once he has thought of something. He turns toward Donald and Sora and begins, "Gawrsh, you don't think everybody is hiding because the Heartless are back."

Sora begins observing the area looking for any signs of the Heartless. "Well I don't think the Heartless could've taken over the town with Jack protecting it, but if the Heartless numbers are growing again, we better check on everybody and I know who we should start with." Sora turns his head to look at an oddly-shaped tower that is Dr. Finkelstein's lab. "Come on guys."

The trio begins walking up the stairs leading to Dr. Finkelstein's lair. Suddenly another thought pops into Goofy's head and he shares it with the others, "If the Heartless are back we should also check in on Christmas Town and make sure Santa's alright."

Sora and Donald nod in agreement and the three continue up the stairway. Once they have reached the top of the stairs, Sora slowly nudges the door to open. The door soon begins creaking open all on its own. The three slowly enter into the dark laboratory. Sora looks around, seeing nothing but shadows, the only light coming into the lab is from the moonlight shining in through the windows. "Hello… is anybody home?"

Suddenly from out of nowhere a voice says, "Who's there?"

Sora looks back at his companions, who only offer him shrugs as their answers. He turns back towards the darkness and says, "It's us, Sora, Donald, and Goofy."

"Phew," said the voice. Soon from the shadows comes slowly rolling out on his wheelchair, Dr. Finkelstein. "Well I'm glad it's just you three. The last trio that came into my lab really started causing a ruckus."

"Let me guess," started Sora, "Lock, Shock, and Barrel."

Dr. Finkelstein nods his head and says, "Those imbeciles have cause to much trouble lately. They destroyed precious lab equipment, mess with my important documents, and even had the audacity to delay a project of mine. Even worse," Dr. Finkelstein opens up his head, "those troublemakers tried to steal my brilliant brain."

Donald smirks and says, "Well those three are the little mischief makers of the town," sounding like he's a little impressed by their deeds. Donald quickly spots Sora stern face looking at him. "U-Uh," said a nervious Donald, "What I mean by that is, those three really shouldn't be doing that."

Dr. Finkelstein begins hanging his head low as his head closes back up. "With Jack gone," he started, "no one is here to put those three in their place."

The three quickly turn towards Dr. Finkelstein in wonderment by his words. "What do you mean Jack is gone," Sora asks, "where did he go?"

Dr. Finkelstein slowly raises his head back up and says, "I think he went off in search of the real meaning of the holidays… or something mushy like that. So I really don't know where he went off to."

"So where are Sally, Zero, and the Mayor at," asks Goofy, "did they go with him."

"Oh no," Dr. Finkelstein starts, "they're still in Halloween Town. Sally is usually in her room or wondering around the streets of the town. Zero is moping around near Jack's house, waiting for his master to return. The Mayor is at home coming up with brand new ideas for this year's Halloween." The doctor begins moving towards a window and says, "You see, Jack didn't even tell Sally and Zero where was heading off to nor did he tell them he was leaving and the Mayor still thinks he's at home." He stops the wheelchair right in front of a window and looks down at Guillotine Square. Watching the emptiness of the square… it's usually so crowded there this time of year. He turns his wheelchair around and looks towards his friends. "And I have a strange feeling something is brewing about in our fair town."

Sora, Donald, and Goofy look at each other wondering what type of omen could possibly befall Halloween Town. Sure the Heartless numbers were limited and the Nobodies had not been spotted in a while. The town was even free of Oogie Boogie, that old bag of bugs… but then again that has not stopped him from returning.

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><p>Well I hope you enjoyed chapter one and who knows when the next part will be up.<br>Happy Halloween!


	2. Phase One

**_Phase One_**

Off on Moonlight Hill, a shadowy figure shrouded in a dark, brown robe, with a hood that hides the face except for the sinister eyes it holds. The being lurks in the shadows behind a few tombstones while keeping an eye on three child-like creatures. He takes note of each of them, the first dressed like a red devil, the next garbed as a purple witch, and the final one as a short skeleton. He lies in wait, until the specific time to reveal himself to the trio of troublemakers.

The child in red looks around the area, clearly bored and wondering what to do. He reaches up to removes his demon mask and looks towards his two cohorts before asking, "What'cha guys wanna do today?"

The girl in purple shrugs and removes her mask as well. The boy and girl slowly turn towards the final member of their group before asking simultaneously, "What do you wanna do Barrel?"

"Umm," the child starts before pausing as his mind tries to come up with something. The cog in his head quickens their pace as an idea pops up. "Hey," starts Barrel, "why don't we try and take the old codger's brain, again?" He turns to his friends to get their opinion on the matter. He isn't surprised when they have gone into another conversation without him and completely ignored him. Barrel jerks his head upwards causing his mask to slide over the top of his head. He scoffs at the two before crossing his arms over his chest. "Why don't you guys listen to me?" He mumbles to himself. He turns away from his friends only to notice they aren't the only ones on Moonlight Hill anymore. His eyes trail up the brown cloak before stopping at the being's dark eyes glaring down at him. The boy looks over his shoulder and starts stuttering, "G-G-Guys!" Barrel looks back at the menacing figure. "Guys!" he calls out to his friends again only to be ignored a second time.

The newcomer simply smirks underneath his hood and speaks, "I may have an idea that you three could do." He watches as the other two slowly turn their heads in his direction, noticing the short one is the only one really giving him attention. "I bet your wondering who I am," he says to the trio but before any of them can answer he finishes, "Well the names, Pete." With that said, his face becomes visible from his hood.

"Pete?" Barrel mumbles. He turns to look at his friends and get their judgment on the new character, but they seem to have no interest in the newcomer since they have gone back to their private conversation. The child rolls his eyes before turning back to face Pete. "Well… what do you want?"

Pete smiles at the only child who is paying attention. His right arm reaches into his left sleeve as he removes an old worn-out, burlap sack. He presents it to the skeleton dressed boy, who is hesitant at first to take it.

Barrel grabs the fabric and removes it from Pete's gloved hand. He begins inspecting the cloth, knowing there was something familiar about it. The sack is quickly snatched away from his grasp. Barrel snaps his head in the direction the fabric went only to see it in the hands of Lock.

The demon dressed boy looks at it, inspecting it as well. He looks up at the big guy before smugly asking, "What is this? Your underwear?" Lock begins laughing at his little joke.

Pete groans at the little nuisance. "Yes, that's my underwear."

"I knew it." The child replies before chuckling even harder, obviously he's never heard of sarcasm or if he did he's just choosing to forget about it.

Shock hears Pete scoff towards Lock's behavior. She walks over towards the boy before taking her mask and whacking him with it.

Lock drops the cloth as he rubs the tender spot. "Oww, what was that for?"

The witch reaches down and picks up the sack before she also inspects it. Her head tilts upwards and asks, "So what do you want us to do… Pete?"

Pete lets out a smirk, seeing as he has caught two of the trio's attention. "Well," he begins, "I heard from a very reliable source that you three really like to make _mischief_." His smirk grows as he sees the final member gain an interest. "And I was just thinking that I could help you make the biggest kind of mischief this town has ever seen." He sees the smiles on their faces grow nearly looking as if their faces would split right down the middle if they grinned any harder. "And all you three have to do is," Pete grins. "Fill that cloth," he points towards the item and concludes, "with all kinds of ghoulish objects."

The three stare at the fabric within Shock's hands, wondering how this object was going to cause trouble. The trio turn their attention back towards Pete as Shock soon asks, "Fill it with what, exactly?"

"Oh I don't know," Pete starts innocently, "maybe with bones perhaps." He places a hand underneath his chin, "Hmm," he ponders. "No, no, not bones… maybe with snakes and mice that might wrap up so nice." But quickly pauses, "Naw, we can do better than that." He pauses yet again before finishing with this part of the plan. "Oh, now I got it, maybe you three can fill it up with gross little insects" He claps his hands in agreement with himself, "Yup, that's what you three can fill it up with."

Lock's eyes narrow at Pete before skeptically asking, "How exactly will that cause major mischief?"

Pete chuckles to himself. "Well, that's just phase one of the mischief making. I'm about to initiate phase two." He turns away from the trio and begins walking towards the gate leading out of Moonlight Hill. He stops partial of the way before looking over his shoulder and adding, "Until next time." Pete waves at the children as he continues out of the area all the while smirking to himself.

The three watch as the cloaked Pete leaves the hill. They slowly turn back towards one another. Lock is the first to speak of the group, "So what do you guys think about this Pete character and his plan?"

Barrel simply shrugs in response. Shock crosses her arms over her chest and replies by saying, "He seems to have ulterior motives, _but_ it could lead to some interesting fun."

Lock slightly nods his head in agreement. "So where do you suppose the best place to find bugs is at?"

Barrel begins pondering and soon comes up with an idea. "Oh I know… the Graveyards are probably crawling with enough bugs to fill that sack and then some. I bet the little maggots are trying to get into the graves to feast on those resting there." He finds himself laughing.

Lock looks away from Barrel and stops at Shock to see her opinion. "No, the Graveyards are too obvious. Someone will see us there and start asking questions. Let's go to a place where no one will be," she says while tapping her fingers together, "how about the Hinterlands?"

Lock and Shock place their masks back over their faces and begin running for the exit. Barrel watches as his friends leave the area before adding, "Aww and I really wanted to collect a few maggots for my collection." He jerks his head downward as his mask slides over his face. The child quickly runs after his friends. "Guys wait up!"


	3. New Faces

_**New Faces**_

The Keyblade wielder continues to ponder about the doctor's premonition. Could his feeling simply be caused by Jack's disappearance? Heartless, Nobodies, mischief makers, even the boogie man, Sora and his friends could handle… well maybe not all of them at once. The boy turns his attention back towards the Dr. Finkelstein. "Well if you see anything suspicious let us know and we'll take care of it." He turns to face his two traveling companions and finishes, "won't we guys?"

Goofy rapidly nods his head in agreement while Donald causally replies, "You bet we will."

Dr. Finkelstein watches as Sora faces him once again. "Alright," is all he replies before returning towards his worktable and preparing to resume work on his latest invention. Without turning to look at the trio of friends, he responses, "I need to get back to work if you don't mind."

Sora nods, understanding that the doctor's a busy fellow, turns on his heel to take his leave with Donald and Goofy. He pauses just as he is a few steps away from the exit. The boy turns and asks, "Dr. Finkelstein do you know where Sally is?"

"Hmm," the doctor responses before opening his head to give his brain a little scratch as he ponders. While his free hand grabs a hold of the level that controls his wheelchair. He turns the device around as he closes his head shut tight. "I'm not quite sure where that girl is."

The young warrior simply nods his head in thanks as the trio leaves the laboratory. As the three trails down the steps leading into the town square, Sora can't help but think of recent events. Jack went off somewhere in search of the true meaning of the holidays. The boy only hopes the Pumpkin King isn't causing trouble like he did in Christmas Town. Then there is Dr. Finkelstein's hunch that something bad was about to happen. Is a _storm_ vastly approaching Halloween Town? Would Oogie Boogie be making another unexpected guest appearance? Did it mean Maleficent or Pete would rear their ugly mugs around here? So many questions enter through his head that he didn't have an answer for. Before he knows it, the trio has already reentered Guillotine Square and has stopped directly in front of Jack's house.

Sora walks up to the gate before grabbing a hold of the cold bars, luckily he has his gloves on or else his hands would have been retracted back quickly. He looks around the area and sees it truly deserted. Even if the house was empty, perhaps a certain ghost was playing watchdog and is nearby. "Zero," Sora whistles out, "here boy." The boy calls out the canine's name a few more times along a couple of whistles but alas the little ghost dog is nowhere to be found. Either he was dead asleep… no pun intended… or he just is not at this location. Sora turns towards his friends to see if they had any thoughts. After receiving simply shrugs, the Keyblade wielder comes up with something. "Maybe he's with Sally," is what he comes up with. Now the question of the hour is where exactly is the ragdoll?

After finding no trace of their friends in the square, Sora, Donald, and Goofy start to head towards the alleyway leading into the Graveyard. The trio stops when they come to a fork in the road. Where would Sally be? They had three choices to choose from: Moonlight Hill, the Hinterlands, or simply continuing through the Graveyard. They could have each taken a path but decide to stick together in case of trouble… since there's safety in numbers. Instead of traveling into the new areas, the three settle on trekking through the Graveyards mainly a section commonly known by the locals as the Tomb of Tears.

They pass by grave after grave after grave. Well it is the Graveyard, what else is supposed to be here? Donald and Goofy plainly ignore most of the headstones as they continue their search for Sally and Zero. Sora, on the other hand, has slowed in his pace as he notices a few of the tombstones have tumbled over and a light purple aura is emanating from where the stone slabs would have been. He couldn't remember if the headstones he'd knocked over in the past had radiated an aura or not. The young warrior didn't know if it was something new or if they all did this. For the time being, he ignores it, he'd ask the doctor or the Mayor about it later.

Sora soon notices his two companions have suddenly stopped. He catches up with both Donald and Goofy and looks in the directions they are staring at. The Keyblade wielder notices a man dressed in dark green garments walking down the pathway towards them. The thing that sticks out most on the man happens to be his black top hat. Not as lanky as the Mayor's hat, definitely a bit bulkier, but still Sora took notice of it. It's not every day one sees someone wear a top hat.

The man's already wide eyes widen at the sight of the three. He slowly makes his way over to them. The ghoulish man tips his hat but not removing it from his scalp as he begins introductions. "I'm Mr. Hyde," he plainly says and detects the boy is about to introduce himself and his comrades. Before the youth is able to open his mouth, Mr. Hyde responses, "I already know you three, Sora, Donald, and Goofy." He chuckles to himself by their surprised facial expressions. "I have heard of your amazing adventures with our Pumpkin King and how you helped defeated that vile Oogie Boogie." Mr. Hyde watches as Sora beams with pride at being commended. "If there's anything you need don't hesitate to ask."

Donald and Goofy look over towards the Keyblade wielder. The duck merely rolls his eyes as the boy is still in his daze of being commended. Goofy turns to their new friend before asking, "We could use some help in finding Sally and Zero."

Mr. Hyde places a gangly finger over chin in thought. "Hmm," he starts as the finger begins tapping over his chin, "come to think of it, I haven't seen Zero around lately. I wonder where he could be?" He shrugs his arms and continues, "As for Sally, I saw her down this pathway," he gestures towards the dirt trail. "She was near the Hanging Tree."

"Well thank you," Goofy replies before the trio bids their goodbyes. The three slowly begin to take their leave but are stopped by Mr. Hyde calling out to them.

The macabre man stops after he has gotten their attention. "Please allow me to help you out on your journey." He watches as they look amongst themselves before continuing, "Let me record your story so it's not lost."

The three are baffled by what Mr. Hyde wants to do. Sora wonders if he meant to record their events for future generations to hear or not. Not wanting to hurt the man's courteous act, he simply agrees to it.

Hyde simply smiles in responses. "So now don't forget," he pauses for a second or two to remove his hat. After his hat is in his grasp the heroes notice a smaller Mr. Hyde underneath. "Save it now," says the tinier man in a higher voice than the bigger version. The small man pauses just as the normal one had did before removing his hat and revealing an even littler version of himself as well. "Or risk doing it again," says the littlest one in an even higher tone than the previous. The large Mr. Hyde chuckles at the startled friends before the medium version places his hat back on his head covering up the tiniest. Mr. Hyde places his hat back on as well. "I have recorded your story so far. Come back whenever you need me to update it." With that said, he bids his goodbyes as he heads back into Guillotine Square.

Donald looks over to his pals and sees dumbfounded expression written upon their face. "What was that all about?"

Sora looks over at Donald not sure if he was talking about the smaller versions of Mr. Hyde's under his top hat or the whole thing about recording their story. He could answer the first about the multiple Hydes, since this was Halloween Town, a place where nearly anything could happen. As for the second one, he didn't have a clue. So instead of answering Donald's question, he chose to ignore it. "Mr. Hyde said Sally was down the road by a hanging tree." He quickly begins to lead the way as Donald and Goofy follow.

The trio continues down the road, passing by headstone after headstone after headstone along with a few tumbled-over ones with the purple glow. Soon Sora, Donald, and Goofy come to a stop when they have reached the farthest area of the Tomb of Tears. Sora looks around the area for any signs of their friend. The child soon notices his friends making their way towards a large, leafless tree, whose branches resemble spindly claws.

Donald and Goofy come to a halt in front of the tree before noticing there happens to be a smaller tree in front of the other. Donald looks up at the small tree and notices something peculiar. "Hey Goofy look at that," he says while pointing at the tree. "Somebody craved a face on it."

Goofy takes notice of a grinning face which apparently is contagious as he too smiles. His head turns from left to right and vise versa noticing something else. "And look at that there are tiny skeletons hanging from its limbs." Goofy looks down towards Donald and asks, "Do ya think that's supposed to be a Halloween styled Christmas tree."

"I don't know," the mallard begins before turning towards his pal. "But if it is, that's got to be the sorriest looking tree I've ever seen." Donald looks back up at the tree, but flinches at what he sees, the tree's expression has changed from a grin to an offended scowl and it happens to be staring right at him. "Uh, Goofy," he sheepishly starts while tapping Goofy's arm with a finger.

Goofy looks down towards his friend and notices him trembling up a storm all the while muttering incoherently. He watches as his pal lifts up an arm only to point towards the little tree. The Goof's eyes slowly trail away from Donald to stop at the withering foliage. There it was… the smiling tree. Its smile was still contagious as ever, Goofy tries to suppress a smile of his own. His attention is brought back towards his mallard comrade as he continues to babble nonsense while rapidly pointing towards the tree. Goofy can only scratch his head in confusion, wondering what got Donald so spooked. He slowly reaches over to his friend before he begins to pat Donald's shoulder, trying to calm him down. Goofy proceeds to take a seat on the ground, with his back to the tree, before tapping the spot next to him. "Donald, maybe you should take a break. You don't look so good."

Donald slowly grows quiet as he looks up at the object of his fright and sees it smiling down at him. Maybe he was tired and was seeing things. Maybe he did need a break. He slowly takes the spot next to Goofy before the duo leans back on the tree with their hands behind their heads.

After finding no trace of Sally, Sora begins looking at the tombstones in search of Zero's grave. If neither Sally nor Zero were here, he'd at least know the location of the ghostly dog's grave if he returned there later. The young warrior looks down at yet another headstone, trying to find any indication of who might be buried here. Only to find an indecipherable wording craved within the stone. "Ugh." He slowly straightens up as the creaks in his back make popping sounds. Checking graves at night can really tire out one's back and eyes. Sora softly rubs the soreness away from his eyes. "I can't believe I don't remember where Zero's grave is," the boy mumbles to himself. Zero one of Sora's friends and he couldn't find where the little, ghost dog was buried at. He felt terrible at this, but maybe another one of his friends could show him Zero's location. "Perhaps if we can find Sally, she'll know where-." Is all he got to say before the sound of his hand smacking his forehead was heard. "Right… Mr. Hyde said she was near the hanging tree."

Donald and Goofy continue to lazily take a break. The only new movement they make is crossing their legs. The mallard turns towards his friend and says, "Yeah I think you were right Goofy. I just needed to sit back and unwind." The duo takes notice of Sora slowly approaching them, but do not move an inch.

Sora stops in front of the duo before crossing his arms over his chest. He finds them lazily chilling and seemingly ignoring him. The Keyblade wielder begins tapping his foot, trying to gain their attention. After a few seconds of unresponsiveness from his friends, he lets out a defeated sigh before looking at the tree in front of him. In a joking manner he asks, "Do you know where Sally is at?" Not expecting a response, Sora looks down at his companions hoping to have finally gained their attention. His head soon tilts to the side in confusion at the sound of someone clearing their throat. He moves his head in the direction of the noise only coming face to face with the grinning tree. His eyes widen at what happen next.

"As a matter of fact I do." The grinning tree spoke. It offers a hand-like branch to the stunned warrior, which is slowly accepted. After the handshake, the tree bends over, making all sorts of creaking noises, to stare at the boy's companions. As it proceeds to wave, the two look over their shoulder and take one glance before _literally _disappearing from sight. Their hollers and screams can be heard but the tree is unable to spot them. The face craved in the tree turns to a look of confusion before it scratches the bark near its face. It looks over at the child and sees him staring into the starry night sky.

Sora stares in amazement; he had never seen his friends scared so far as to manage to jump into the sky. He can still hear the faint sounds of their cries of fright. The Keyblade wielder turns his attention back towards the craved, grinning face of the tree. He stares warily at the creature not sure if it was friendly like Jack, up to no good like the mischievous trio, or evil like Oogie Boogie. His expression returns to normal since Oogie Boogie was pretty much the only truly evil being in Halloween Town. Sora offers the universal greeting known to everyone on any type of world visited, "Hi!"

"Greetings, Sora," the tree replies and smiles at the boy's bewildered face at his knowledge of his name. "Jack and Sally have told us all about your heroic efforts that saved our fair town. It is an honor to finally meet you in person. Allow me to introduce myself, my name is the Hanging Tree and these," he quickly gestures to the small skeletons, "are the Hanging Men." A few of the bone men wave at the hero.

Sora returns the smile delighted to meet a new friendly face. "Nice to meet you, Hanging Tree and Men. Since you know me I assume you know my pals Donald and Goofy as well." He sees the tree and a few of the Hanging Men nod in confirmation. As if on cue, the duo's shrieks slowly start coming within earshot. Ignoring his friends vastly approaching, his mind wanders to something the Hanging Tree mentioned. "You said something about Sally."

Hanging Tree nods in response, "Indeed, if you're looking for her, you should simply look up." He slowly gestures upwards to the top of the dead-looking tree behind him.

Sora's eyesight trails up behind Hanging Tree and to the tree actually rooted into the ground. He first sees his two partners land in a few branches of the large plant. After finding them okay, the Keyblade wielder's eyes continue up to the tiptop of the tree before spotting the ragdoll sitting on a sturdy limb. The boy smiles, but it quickly fades as a funny feeling overcomes him, like something was coming right at him. Sora looks as high as his neck will allow and sure enough a pebble-like object smacks him right in the forehead. He instantly clutches his injury as dizziness overcomes his entire being. His vision begins to blur as his legs grow limp. Sora's limbs give out as he falls backwards, unconscious. While a small green stone rolls into the boy's hand.


End file.
